FairestOfThemAll37
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,980
Hi cruisers. A couple months ago I did a comparison review on the Princess cruise I took. Well, I returned this morning from my first 3-day cruise and my first time on the Dream so I thought I'd share my thoughts.
We cruised as two adults so I have no insight into the kids' activities and we don't do shows so this is a ship/port review.
Port arrival/boarding
Since we were only driving a short distance to the port we had a lot of control over our timing. As we were only doing carry-on we wanted to arrive close to 1:30 so we could roll right to our cabin. We arrived at the port right around 1pm and breezed through check-in. We were able to board immediately. I really wish they would have a route for people who don't want the picture. We waited almost 15 minutes as families did different pictures.
Cabanas lunch
Our rooms weren't ready just yet so we went up to Cabanas for a quick bite. It wasn't too insane when we got there and we were able to find a table right away. The buffet area was clean. The food was just adequate. I do have a thing for the chicken fingers (they remind of the ones at Steak n' Shake) so I usually get my chicken finger fill for the year during the cruise haha.
The Cabin
By the time we finished lunch the cabins were ready so we headed to our room to unpack. We had a family stateroom with verandah. It was spotless and the furniture was all in good repair. After having experienced the new Princess beds, the DCL beds have fallen to second place. I know they are extremely popular, but I still can't stand the split bathrooms. They are so tiny and feel like little tile tombs to me.
Muster Drill
By the time we finished unpacking we had just enough time to grab a coffee at cove cafe and head to our muster station. Ugh, this was a frustrating experience. We were assigned an outside muster station on deck. My mom has a bit of time sitting or standing for long periods and I have issues being packed in line so close to others. Yep, we're special snowflakes haha. Whenever I'm at an outdoor muster where you're practically hugging your stationmates, I ask if I can stand to the side a bit. It's never a problem.
Well, I explained the situation as well as asked if there was anywhere my mom could sit down if needed and was told no on both accounts. I was honestly a bit surprised at the flat no, but their ship their rules. Another CM I guess heard and then escorted us across the way a bit where there was another family who needed a seat for a party member. No less than 3-4 minutes after yet another CM came over to tell us that none of us could be there and we had to move back to where we came from. We all explained our situations again to this CM and she just said "sorry" and pointed us back to place A.
Cue the next CM who says something to the other CM and says we're OK to stay. The drill finally starts and yep, another CM we haven't seen before comes over and we do the dance again. Given how good they are with accommodations and how many generations they deal with, you'd think they would have their contingency in place and a policy on accommodation. I was surprised but ok with the original "no", but Lordy Lordy the back and forth was taxing.
Overall the drill felt disorganized. They kept reshuffling where the kids were standing and people were getting a bit over the whole thing before it even started. We walked away thinking "Get your poo together, Disney."
Night One Dinner
We were in Animator's for the first evening. We had a table to ourselves, which we prefer. Our server was Kiat, who was great, he was friendly but not obtrusive and was prompt.
The restaurant was as cute as ever and the food was a pleasant surprise. We both had the arugula salad which had beets, arugula, white beans, and orange segments. It was delicious and I actually ended up requesting it on the final night as well.
We had the grilled tuna steak and the tenderloin. The tuna was perfectly seared and the tenderloin was surprisingly tasty. I usually find tenderloin to be bland, but it was well-seasoned and well prepared. We always tend to skip the accompanying starch and ask for lots of veg. Our server went crazy and brought us tons of green every night, which was much appreciated.
We skipped dessert as nothing seemed appealing.
To be continued with day two in Nassau...Sorry for the delay in reviewing, I've been ill since I returned
Day 2 Breakfast
We opted for the sit-down breakfast in the Royal Court. We were seated immediately and our waiter came to take our order. We were seated by the window so we could see Nassau as we came in. The Eggs Benedict was good, not the best I've ever had, but definitely good. The omelet was kind of meh. I do love the way Disney prepares the Muesli so that's always a treat.
Excursion
I opted for the two-tank dive in Nassau. I normally don't dive through the cruise ship, but the times were tight in Nassau and having visited the island several times (though never by ship), I knew the operator they used and trusted them. There was only myself and one other person on the dive. I'm guessing that Disney has a contracted monthly or yearly rate with the dive shop so they agree to take the excursion out regardless of how many people are signed up. It was a pretty typical dive and the shop was as expected. We were cutting it very close on returning to port and I arrived not too long before the final on-board time.
I did get back just in time to see the NCL ship pulling away leaving a couple behind on the dock. They were very unhappy!
Dinner- Enchanted Garden
We were in the Enchanted Garden for our second evening. We were in a side room so it was nice and quiet, but we didn't really get the full atmosphere of the room. For starters we had the romaine wedge, which was basically a Caesar salad, but it was tasty. One of us had the Sea bass, which was perfectly cooked. I had the Marjoram scented chicken, unfortunately it was disappointing. There wasn't much flavor and the skin wasn't crispy so it was like a gross chewy blanket on the chicken. Luckily we had tons of green veggies. We skipped dessert in the main dining room.
Vanellope's Sweets & Treats
OMG, ok, could anything be any cuter? no, no it cannot. This space is absolutely adorable! For any Wreck-it Ralph fan, it's the perfect candy shop. The theme is great and they made use of every inch of the small space available. We decided to have the Vanellope Von Schweets Go Kart Sundae. It's three scoops of ice cream, five toppings, plus whipped cream and cherries. It comes in an absolutely adorable replica of Vanellope's kart. We decided we had to get this because my talking Vanellope doll needed her ride lol. I'd like to say that we didn't eat it all or that we struggled to finish it, but we inhaled it.
Pirate Night
We lucked out with finding a great spot to watch the fireworks! We headed up to deck 12 so we'd be out of the way of the little ones running around and when we came off the elevator we found that most of the area was closed off. The CM told us that we could go around to watch the pirate show or we were in the best spot for fireworks because half of them came out of the smokestack right where we were. We didn't really care about the pirate show and there were almost no people in that area so we listened until it was time for the fireworks. They were fantastic as usual!
We decided to skip the buffet as everybody was crowding in there and the line was halfway down the deck.
Be back tomorrow with Castaway Cay, Disembarkation, and other thoughts.
We cruised as two adults so I have no insight into the kids' activities and we don't do shows so this is a ship/port review.
Port arrival/boarding
Since we were only driving a short distance to the port we had a lot of control over our timing. As we were only doing carry-on we wanted to arrive close to 1:30 so we could roll right to our cabin. We arrived at the port right around 1pm and breezed through check-in. We were able to board immediately. I really wish they would have a route for people who don't want the picture. We waited almost 15 minutes as families did different pictures.
Cabanas lunch
Our rooms weren't ready just yet so we went up to Cabanas for a quick bite. It wasn't too insane when we got there and we were able to find a table right away. The buffet area was clean. The food was just adequate. I do have a thing for the chicken fingers (they remind of the ones at Steak n' Shake) so I usually get my chicken finger fill for the year during the cruise haha.
The Cabin
By the time we finished lunch the cabins were ready so we headed to our room to unpack. We had a family stateroom with verandah. It was spotless and the furniture was all in good repair. After having experienced the new Princess beds, the DCL beds have fallen to second place. I know they are extremely popular, but I still can't stand the split bathrooms. They are so tiny and feel like little tile tombs to me.
Muster Drill
By the time we finished unpacking we had just enough time to grab a coffee at cove cafe and head to our muster station. Ugh, this was a frustrating experience. We were assigned an outside muster station on deck. My mom has a bit of time sitting or standing for long periods and I have issues being packed in line so close to others. Yep, we're special snowflakes haha. Whenever I'm at an outdoor muster where you're practically hugging your stationmates, I ask if I can stand to the side a bit. It's never a problem.
Well, I explained the situation as well as asked if there was anywhere my mom could sit down if needed and was told no on both accounts. I was honestly a bit surprised at the flat no, but their ship their rules. Another CM I guess heard and then escorted us across the way a bit where there was another family who needed a seat for a party member. No less than 3-4 minutes after yet another CM came over to tell us that none of us could be there and we had to move back to where we came from. We all explained our situations again to this CM and she just said "sorry" and pointed us back to place A.
Cue the next CM who says something to the other CM and says we're OK to stay. The drill finally starts and yep, another CM we haven't seen before comes over and we do the dance again. Given how good they are with accommodations and how many generations they deal with, you'd think they would have their contingency in place and a policy on accommodation. I was surprised but ok with the original "no", but Lordy Lordy the back and forth was taxing.
Overall the drill felt disorganized. They kept reshuffling where the kids were standing and people were getting a bit over the whole thing before it even started. We walked away thinking "Get your poo together, Disney."
Night One Dinner
We were in Animator's for the first evening. We had a table to ourselves, which we prefer. Our server was Kiat, who was great, he was friendly but not obtrusive and was prompt.
The restaurant was as cute as ever and the food was a pleasant surprise. We both had the arugula salad which had beets, arugula, white beans, and orange segments. It was delicious and I actually ended up requesting it on the final night as well.
We had the grilled tuna steak and the tenderloin. The tuna was perfectly seared and the tenderloin was surprisingly tasty. I usually find tenderloin to be bland, but it was well-seasoned and well prepared. We always tend to skip the accompanying starch and ask for lots of veg. Our server went crazy and brought us tons of green every night, which was much appreciated.
We skipped dessert as nothing seemed appealing.
To be continued with day two in Nassau...Sorry for the delay in reviewing, I've been ill since I returned
Day 2 Breakfast
We opted for the sit-down breakfast in the Royal Court. We were seated immediately and our waiter came to take our order. We were seated by the window so we could see Nassau as we came in. The Eggs Benedict was good, not the best I've ever had, but definitely good. The omelet was kind of meh. I do love the way Disney prepares the Muesli so that's always a treat.
Excursion
I opted for the two-tank dive in Nassau. I normally don't dive through the cruise ship, but the times were tight in Nassau and having visited the island several times (though never by ship), I knew the operator they used and trusted them. There was only myself and one other person on the dive. I'm guessing that Disney has a contracted monthly or yearly rate with the dive shop so they agree to take the excursion out regardless of how many people are signed up. It was a pretty typical dive and the shop was as expected. We were cutting it very close on returning to port and I arrived not too long before the final on-board time.
I did get back just in time to see the NCL ship pulling away leaving a couple behind on the dock. They were very unhappy!
Dinner- Enchanted Garden
We were in the Enchanted Garden for our second evening. We were in a side room so it was nice and quiet, but we didn't really get the full atmosphere of the room. For starters we had the romaine wedge, which was basically a Caesar salad, but it was tasty. One of us had the Sea bass, which was perfectly cooked. I had the Marjoram scented chicken, unfortunately it was disappointing. There wasn't much flavor and the skin wasn't crispy so it was like a gross chewy blanket on the chicken. Luckily we had tons of green veggies. We skipped dessert in the main dining room.
Vanellope's Sweets & Treats
OMG, ok, could anything be any cuter? no, no it cannot. This space is absolutely adorable! For any Wreck-it Ralph fan, it's the perfect candy shop. The theme is great and they made use of every inch of the small space available. We decided to have the Vanellope Von Schweets Go Kart Sundae. It's three scoops of ice cream, five toppings, plus whipped cream and cherries. It comes in an absolutely adorable replica of Vanellope's kart. We decided we had to get this because my talking Vanellope doll needed her ride lol. I'd like to say that we didn't eat it all or that we struggled to finish it, but we inhaled it.
Pirate Night
We lucked out with finding a great spot to watch the fireworks! We headed up to deck 12 so we'd be out of the way of the little ones running around and when we came off the elevator we found that most of the area was closed off. The CM told us that we could go around to watch the pirate show or we were in the best spot for fireworks because half of them came out of the smokestack right where we were. We didn't really care about the pirate show and there were almost no people in that area so we listened until it was time for the fireworks. They were fantastic as usual!
We decided to skip the buffet as everybody was crowding in there and the line was halfway down the deck.
Be back tomorrow with Castaway Cay, Disembarkation, and other thoughts.
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